Texas Eagle Ford drilling, production spooling up

Feb. 6, 2012
The Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas has attracted more than 3,100 permitted locations since Petrohawk Energy Corp. revealed the first discovery in October 2008, the Texas Railroad Commission said.

The Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas has attracted more than 3,100 permitted locations since Petrohawk Energy Corp. revealed the first discovery in October 2008, the Texas Railroad Commission said.

Ninety percent of the Eagle Ford drilling permits approved by the commission since 2007 were issued in 2011.

The commission's web site describes the play as being roughly 50 miles wide and extending some 400 miles from the Rio Grande River into East Texas.

The commission has designated 30 Eagle Ford producing fields but has consolidated them into 16 fields covering parts of 24 counties (see map).

There were 368 Eagle Ford producing oil leases in 2011 compared with 72 in 2010 and 40 in 2009, and there were 550 Eagle Ford producing gas wells in 2011 compared with 158 in 2010 and 67 in 2009, the TRC said.

The Cretaceous aged Eagle Ford formation lies between the Austin chalk and Buda lime at depths of 4,000 to 12,000 ft.

Lease production reports indicate that the Eagle Ford formation produced about 1,000 bbl of oil or less per year in 2004-07 from vertical wells before the horizontal drilling frenzy began. Output, especially of liquids, is understood to be building rapidly (OGJ, July 4, 2011, p. 40).

The formation produced 83,744 bbl of condensate in 2008, 839,490 bbl in 2009, 7.1 million bbl in 2010, and 16.8 million bbl in January-October 2011. It produced 103,802 bbl of crude oil in 2008, 308,139 bbl in 2009, 4.3 million bbl in 2010, and 13.8 million bbl in January-October 2011.

Gas production grew from 1 bcf in 2008 to 19 bcf in 2009, 110 bcf in 2010, and 212 bcf in January-October 2011.

Figures for previous years may change periodically as delinquent production reports are submitted and processed, the commission noted.

The commission said that only a single field, Eagleville (Eagle Ford sour) field in Frio County, has been identified as containing hydrogen sulfide.

EOG Resources Inc., Houston, said in December 2011 it is the largest oil producer in the Eagle Ford with output as of Sept. 30, 2011, of 53,000 b/d of oil equivalent, 78% oil.

The company said it has captured potential reserves of 690 million bbl of oil, 100 million bbl of natural gas liquids, and 661 bcf of gas net after royalty, totaling 900 million boe, of which 135 million boe were booked as of the end of 2010.

EOG said 87% of its 610,000 net acres are in the play's oil window. The initial potential rate of some recent wells has approached 3,000 b/d of oil plus NGL and gas.

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